


Movie Nights

by Idzzdi



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Breakup, Love, M/M, One Shot, Reunion, Sequel, Unrequited Love, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2013-01-25
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idzzdi/pseuds/Idzzdi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After catching Harry cheat on him Louis ends their relationship right away and kicks him out of their flat. The seperation is hard on the both of them, but even harder for Harry who desperatly tries to win Louis back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Movie Nights

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to another Oneshot of mine called "An $800 Phone". You don’t absolutey have to have read it to understand this story, though it’s advisable. Esentiall to know is that Harry cheated on Louis with Nick and Louis broke up with him when he found out.
> 
> Also: you might want to be blasting ‘Till I forget about you’ by Big Time Rush for the first part. Just saying, it’s more impressive if you do. [And also, it’s a really amazing song.]

Liam wasn’t feeling happy with how things had ended between Harry and Louis. He indeed had had a suspicion that Harry was cheating for quite some time, but he never really thought it was a real thing, nor that it would be a reason for them to split up. In a way he felt like it was his fault, because he didn’t tell Louis and because he didn’t manage to persuade Harry to stop. Seeing both of them apart and how it affected them had been horrible. From Niall he knew that Harry wasn’t really holding up and since he hadn’t heard from Louis since the breakup Liam one day decided to run by the boy’s flat to check up on him.

The familiar apartment complex looked peaceful but the closer Liam got to (since Harry moved out) Louis’ own flat, the louder got a rhythmic pounding accompanied by an even lower bass. Shaking his head lightly he walked down the hallway to the front door and ignored the doorbell, using his spare key to open the door. Louis wouldn’t have heard it ring anyways.

As soon as he pushed the door open the pounding sound got louder, now joined in by a melody that sounded oddly familiar to Liam, but he couldn’t really match it to anything. Trying to block out the loud sounds he pushed through the apartment, reckoning he would find Louis in his bedroom, which also appeared to be the source of the music.

Liam pushed the door to Louis’ room open and the sounds got even louder, if that was even possible, and distracted him for a moment before his eyes fell on Louis. He was dancing and jumping in the middle of them room, clothes and random things scattered all over the floor.

“Dance hard, laugh hard, turn the music up now!” Louis sing-yelled and Liam furrowed his eyebrows at the horrible sounds coming out of the boy’s mouth. With two quick steps he stood next to the boombox, reaching out for the volume leveler right away and turning it down a good amount.

Louis swirled around, looking for the intruder in his home and glaring at Liam angrily as he realized what he had done. Grabbing a remote next to him Louis turned the music up again, wiggling his hips as he continued singing.

“See I’m fine, no I don’t need nobody else! ‘Cause I’m, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going..” Louis jumped up on his bed, raising his hands in the air and acting like a maniac as he continued singing awfully. Liam was instantly glad that they didn’t have any life performances for the next couple of days because apparently Louis wasn’t in a state where he cared about what he did to his voice with loud screaming or purposely missing the high notes in the song. “I swear I’ll do anything that I have tooo..” And Liam stopped caring as well, only trying to block out the terribly off-key sounds coming from Louis as he stretched the last word. “Till I forget about you!”

He gave up, thinking it would be best to let Louis finish his musical breakdown and just stood and watched as the other boy didn’t get any less crazy or loud, still jumping and dancing through the messy room. As the song finally came to an end Louis collapsed onto the floor, laying on his stomach and breathing heavily, gasping for air as Liam quickly turned down the volume again to something that was actually appropriate in an apartment complex. He sat down next to Louis on the ground in between some dirty laundry and touched the other boy’s hair lightly, pushing a few strands to the side.

“Listening to Big Time Rush, huh?” Liam asked as he finally remembered why the song sounded so familiar to him. Louis hummed in response and for a short moment Liam remembered being on tour with Big Time Rush and how much fun they had had with those boys and how much better they had performed the song Louis had just sung. He decided not to comment on his friend’s poor singing performance and instead to continue with asking what he had actually come here for.

“You should come to the movies with me and the lads tonight.” Liam suggested but Louis didn’t respond right away so Liam kept pushing. “We’re watching the new ‘Batman’ movie. It’ll be fun!” Louis muttered something into the carpet his face was still resting on. Liam gazed down at him.

“Hmm.. Is Harry coming?” Louis asked carefully, turning his face to the side, after a moment of silence. Liam hesitated a moment before answering, but then deciding to tell the truth since there was no real point in lying to Louis.

“Yes, we asked him to come as well.” Louis breathed in sharply and turned his face back towards the ground. “You should come anyways! It’ll be fine, really. You know it’s been.. strange since.. you know.” Liam words trailed off as he thought back to what it had been like in the beginning, finding out about Louis’ and Harry’s breakup. Louis, of course, had been too proud to tell anyone about what had happened and even though the other boys had seen him get more upset with every day and they wanted to help him so bad, they also knew that there was no point in pressuring Louis. He wasn’t going to speak anyways.

Niall was the first one to find out. Harry had gone to crash at his after Louis had kicked him out, bringing along a lot of his stuff. The Irish boy usually wasn’t one to ask many questions but since Louis had just spent the night before at his place and Harry didn’t seem to plan on leaving anytime soon he had finally pulled himself together and confronted Harry. As expected he wasn’t very willing to talk either, but after a while he finally let slip that he had made a mistake and from that point on he had just told them the entire story up the point where Louis kicked him out and gave him one night to clear the apartment from his stuff.

Liam was still thinking about how weird it was finding out about Harry cheating on Louis as he touched Louis’ hair again, but this time the older boy shuffled away from him, sitting up against the bed, glaring at him.

“Look,” Liam said, not wanting to upset his friend. “I don’t want to get involved in this thing you and Harry have.”

“That thing we have?” Louis spat, his eyes growing dark. “That thing where Harry cheated on me. And where he didn’t tell me. And where he doesn’t give a shit about my feelings. This is no thing we have! This is the thing where he just runs off with Nick.. He hasn’t even spoken to me since..” Louis’ voice trailed off, sounding sad and exhausted with his former rage.

“Maybe he just wanted to leave you alone. You know.. give you some time.” Liam suggested and Louis just shot him a look, showing that this was not an answer for him. “Well, from what I’ve heard you weren’t exactly in the mood to listen to his arguments the last time you two spoke. But anyways..” He continued quickly as he saw Louis’ eyes get even darker than before. “I just think you two should make up again. It’s not like you’re actually broken up, right?”

“Liam, I kicked him out. We’re broken up. Positive.”

“But you still love him.” Liam noticed a change in Louis’ eyes as his statement took him by surprise. He didn’t respond. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love him anymore.” Louis’ eyes wavered for a moment before he gazed down at his hands, avoiding Liam’s look. There was a long silence before he answered.

“Maybe I do. Maybe I still love him.. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t trust him anymore. I wouldn’t trust him with my love, not with my friendship, not even my sandwich for lunch. He’s seriously messed this one up. Even if I wanted to get back together, I can’t..” His voice started trembling and Liam scooted a little closer, squeezing his thigh encouragingly and smiling up at him. Louis swallowed down some tears.

“You know, you should really come tonight. I promise you don’t have to talk to him. You don’t have to talk to anybody if you don’t want to. But you need to get out of your apartment. Judging from the piles of pizza cartons stacked up in here I doubt you have faced the outside world in more than a week, huh?”

Louis smiled weakly at his words and nodded slowly. And somehow the puppy look on Liam’s face convinced him once more to do something completely against his will.

~

Harry was with Nick when Niall messaged him. He had been with Nick a lot ever since he told the other boys about cheating on Louis. They had been mad at him and he understood that they had to be there for Louis, so he just went back to Nick. Nick hadn’t really said anything about it, even being okay with not having sex anymore. For some reason, even though Harry was technically free to do whatever now, sleeping with Nick now felt even more inappropriate than before.

It was sad how excited Harry got about one of the boys approaching him. They were his best mates, it shouldn’t be a rare occurrence that one of them messaged him on Twitter. But lately it had become one, so when he read Niall’s message to call him as soon as possible he hastily grabbed Nick’s phone calling his Irish friend right away. Niall was still the one who spoke to him the most and Harry was very thankful that still let him stay at his place.

“Yeah?” Niall asked as he picked up the phone.

“Hey, this is Harry.”

“Ah, hey mate. Good thing you’re calling. Uh.. who’s phone are you calling from?” Niall asked a little confused as he didn’t recognize the number on his screen.

“Hmm, Nick.” Harry muttered, quietly, knowing the other boy wouldn’t be too happy to hear about that. Niall bit his tongue, swallowing down a few nasty comments about how hanging out with Nick wasn’t going to help him get Louis back. He had grown sick of Harry crying himself to sleep every night and begging in his dreams for Louis to come back, but he never said anything, just hoping that his two best friends would get themselves figured out rather soon. He liked Harry as a flatmate, he really did, but not when he was all tears and sobs all day long.

The pause stretched longer and longer and Niall finally realized that it was his turn to say something.

“Uh, I was calling because, uhm, I was wondering what you’re doing tonight.”

“I don’t yet. Nothing special I guess.. why?”

“Well, I was wondering f you wanted to come to the movies with me and the lads, maybe? Watch the new ‘Batman’.”

“Of course!” Harry replied right away, overly excited to hear that he was invited to come along. In a way he had really missed those idiots he liked to call his best friends and so he couldn’t wait to spend the night out with them.

~

Unfortunately Niall had missed to tell Harry that Louis was coming along as well, so when the youngest arrived at the movie theater and strolled towards the other boys the smile was wiped right off his face when he saw that the feathery haired boy was with them. He swallowed hard, slowing down his steps and blinking rapidly as he kept walking. He immediately regretted coming and the way he was dressed and the way his hair looked, and then again he didn’t regret anything. Swallowing a few last tears that threatened to spill from his eyes, he took the last few steps towards the group until he was standing with them, mumbling a “Hello” and gazing at all of them. Zayn, Liam and Niall smiled at him, but he didn’t care because Louis was looking somewhere else, starring at some distant point, ignoring him completely.

“Okay, now that we’re all here,” Zayn said, clapping his hands together “I guess we’re good to go, right?” Niall nodded in agreement and put his hand on Harry’s shoulder pushing him towards the entrance of the movie theater, Zayn right by his side. Liam and Louis followed them, talking lowly as the reached the doors.

The time at the cinema was rather awkward. Harry had no idea on how to act around Louis, though luckily this decision was mostly taken from him as Louis had a storing tendency to stick to Liam and follow him around, almost sparking some jealousy inside of Harry. But then he reminded himself that he had no right to be jealous whatsoever and just stuck to Zayn and Niall, simply being happy to have his friends back.

The movie itself wasn’t as bad, Harry barely being aware of the fact that him and Louis weren’t talking. It was fun sitting next to Zayn who could never watch a movie without commenting on every single girl that was up on the screen for longer then three seconds and Harry had a good laugh listening to Zayn faintly complain about the main character’s fashion sense.

Harry was delighted with how the evening had gone so far, engagingly discussing the movie with Zayn as they left the movie theater. Louis and Liam were walking in front of them, keeping to themselves, and Niall was right behind them complaining about being hungry.

“We could get some pizza.” Liam suggested and led them all into the closest pizza place, where they had trouble finding an open table. Harry’s heart sank as he recognized the place remembering that it was the same restaurant he had taken Louis to on one of their very first official dates. The night had been so much fun and the memory the butterflies in his stomach and the quick peck on Louis’ lips he had stolen before dropping him off, made his head swirl and his heart pound faster though he was filled with sudden sadness. This only made him even more aware of all that he had lost.

As Niall pulled him down onto a chair, shoving a menu into his hands, Harry glanced up at Louis who was looking back at him a sad expression in his eyes. Their eyes locked for a few short moments and Harry knew Louis remembered the night of their date just as vividly as he did. Suddenly Louis blinked a few times, just now realizing that he had been starring at Harry, looking up at him in surprise and also horror for a moment before excusing himself to go to the bathroom, leaving Harry behind with an incredibly bad conscious.

~

Somehow Harry managed to pull himself together quite well. At least until Louis and Zayn had said their goodbyes and him and Niall had climbed into Liam’s car. Liam drove them back to Niall’s apartment, the two of them chatting lightly in the front seats while Harry sat in the back, starring out the window and pondering over the events of the night. The worst part of it probably was that there weren’t really any actual events to be pondering about. Nothing happened. At least nothing to be considered important. Louis and him hadn’t spoken once and hadn’t looked each other in the eyes except the one time in the restaurant.

When they reached Niall’s apartment Harry mumbled a quick “Bye, thanks for taking us.” to Liam before climbing out the car and following Niall to the large doors of the apartment building. Niall unlocked the door and watched Harry intently as they strolled up the stairs and down the hallway to his apartment. The quivering in Harry’s shoulders made him hurry, almost breaking off the key as he ripped the door open, letting the two of them in.

Niall pulled off his jacket and shoes as he watched Harry walk over to one of the couches right away, sitting down on the edge and burying his face in his hands. He made no sounds, but from the way his breath changed and his shoulder shook Niall knew he was crying. A silent sigh escaped Niall’s lips before he shuffled across the room and sat down next to Harry onto the couch, wrapping an arm around the younger boy.

“Shh.” He cooed, stroking over Harry’s arm while said boy tried to calm his breath, resulting in the opposite and crying even harder than before. They sat like this for a while, Niall soothingly rubbing Harry’s back, and Harry breathing heavily in between sobs.

“I- I just..” Harry started out as he had caught his breath, his voice still trembling a little. “I just miss him. So much. Niall, I miss him. He’s my everything. And I know that I’ve screwed up, and I just wanna undo everything I ever said or did to hurt him. I’d give anything to see him happy again.” His shoulders shrugged again in another silent sob. “I’m such a jerk. Such a fucking idiot. An award for stupidity? Right here, this boy.” He pointed at himself, making Niall smile at the horrible joke. “God. I just want him back. I want a second chance to show him how much I care. And how good I can be for him. I want to remind him that what we had was good. He made me happy. I made him happy. We were just.. happy. Niall, we were happy. I want to go back to happy.”

Niall waited for a moment, thinking Harry might add something, but when he didn’t he decided to say something that had been on his mind for quite some time now.

“Maybe first of all you need to stop hanging out with Nick all the time.”

“Nick is my only friend right now.”

Niall knew what Louis meant. It was his own fault in a way.

“Listen, Harry. I’m sorry-.. we’re all sorry for maybe not being as supportive lately but.. Well, you’ve been quite a dick. And what you did to Louis..”

“I know.” Harry replied quietly. “I know.”

“Okay, good.” Niall smiled. “Now tat we got that settled, let’s make a plan on how to get you two back together.”

~

Two days after their movie night together Niall had invited Zayn and Liam to come meet him at his flat. He wanted to talk to them about making a plan for their other two band members. Fortunately Harry had gone out that day, not leaving in the morning before swearing Niall not to go see Nick.

As Zayn and Liam arrived, Niall was just setting up some tea, starting to talk while pouring each of them a cup.

“So uhm, about Harry. And Lou. I sat with Harry after the night at the movie theater.” He set down the kettle and looked at the other two boys. “He was genuinely upset about how things, well, are right now, or went down, or whatever. But I was thinking that we should find a way to get those two bubbleheads back together.”

“Sounds good.” Zayn said right away. “It was kinda awkward at the movies with them. I think I like them better as a couple, even if they won’t stop snogging each other’s faces off.” Niall snickered at his words, nodding.

“Well,” Liam started out, looking serious. “I talked to Louis before we went to the movies. And he said he doesn’t want to get back together.” The other two boys furrowed their brows. “He said he can’t trust Harry anymore.”

Silence filled them room, as they all thought about Liam’s words. Zayn was first to speak.

“I think we should try anyways. Think about how in love they were. You don’t just throw that away!”

“Zayn’s right.” Niall agreed. “We don’t even know if Louis knows the whole story. Maybe they just need to talk about it.”

“You can’t just talk everything away, Niall.” Liam said, sceptically.

“Got any better suggestions, grumpy-pants?”

“Hm, no. But well, how do you think this is going to work anyways? Are you just going to call up Louis and tell him to go ahead and talk with Harry? Because he’s not gonna do it..”

Niall and Zayn looked at each other, knowing that Liam was right. They had to think of something else. A way to trick the two.

“A setup.” Zayn blurted out, gaining surprised looks from his friends. “We set them up! Tell them to meet us at some place, a park maybe. And then we just don’t show up. Then they have to talk!”

~

The first setup didn’t exactly go as expected. Zayn had called Louis and Niall had called Harry, asking them to come meet them in a park downtown. The other three boys went to sit in a cafe across from the park, not too close but still around, so they could watch how it went. Ten minutes before Harry was to arrive Louis called Zayn back, saying that he wasn’t feeling very well and that they’d have to reschedule, hanging up on him before Zayn could convince him to come anyways.

When Harry arrived at the park on time anyways, Niall jumped up and made his way over to him quickly, not wanting to blow their cover. Harry looked at him in confusion as he came jogging across the grass.

“Where you just coming from that cafe?” He asked, looking past him catching a glimpse at the other two boys.

“No.”

“Is that Zayn?”

“No. No, Harry. Let’s go.”

~

They decided to try again a few days later. To not make it look suspicious Liam was the one calling them this time. Both boys agreed to get some coffee with Liam and so he told him the time and name of a little cafe where they were to meet.

“Let’s hope it goes a little better this time around.” Niall muttered as he pulled in the street of the cafe, Liam next to him and Zayn in the backseat humming in agreement. They waited another few minutes before getting out of the car and trying to find a rather unsuspicious spot to hide in. They dug down as Harry strolled past them.

A few steps later Harry turned around in confusion, looking back but shaking his head lightly. He figured he was going crazy or growing more and more paranoid, thinking to have seen Zayn’s pitch black quiff for the second time within a few days. It felt weird.

We reached the cafe Liam had told him to meet him at and strolled right past the counter to find a seat in the back, where Liam had told he liked to sit. But as he round the corner he stopped in his tracks, surprised not to find Liam sitting on one of the tables, a steaming mug of coffee in his hands. Instead there was Louis, looking up from his coffee until his eyes met Harry’s, both of them just starring in confusion for a moment.

“Hey.” Harry said softly, stepping a little bit closer but as he did Louis only turned away. He was confused as to why this boy showed up when actually he was to meet with Liam. And then it dawned on Harry. “Are you waiting on Liam, too?”

Louis furrowed his brows at Harry’s words, still refusing to speak. Harry sighed.

“I think this is a setup. I’m here to meet Liam, too.”

Louis felt the anger boil up inside of him, threatening to spill over. He got up calmly, clenching his fists. He hated this. He hated the boy standing in front of him. He hated Liam for putting him in such a situation. But most of all he hated the situation itself.

Trying to contain himself as good as possible Louis grabbed his jacket pressing past the confused looking curly haired boy, who didn’t seem to like to pass up the chance of talking to Louis.

“Wait.” He said hastily as the other left and he pulled up some money, throwing it onto the table next to Louis’ only half empty mug before pushing through the cafe and out the doors following the feathery haired boy down the street.

“Louis, wait.” He called calmly, jogging a little to catch up with the other boy who was still pushing forward at the same quick pace. “Please, wait. Hear me out. I love you. I still do. I always will. And I’ve stopped seeing Nick. I’ll never see him again if you don’t want me to. I’ll do anything you want me to. Please, just- Say something. Louis, please. I love you. Say someth-”

“Go away.” Louis growled lowly and Harry didn’t know whether to be excited about the fact that he finally was speaking to him again or upset about that Louis wanted him to leave. But before he could make a decision Louis had picked up speed, leaving him behind and rushing down the street a little further and then taking a turn onto the road where his apartment was. Louis kept walking and walking, just wanting to get away as tears started filling his eyes. But he blinked them away as he approached the apartment and realized that out of all days some of the fans had to pick today to show up in front if their doors. And as they spotted Louis strolling towards them their scream got even more excited, mobbing him right away.

And in that moment Louis found himself wishing Harry was with him to push away the fans and lead him into their flat after a long exhausting day. And at the thought of that tears started spilling.

~

Louis locked himself up in his apartment, confused by those feelings he had felt towards Harry after his encounter with the fans in front of their – no, his – flat. He got more and more upset with each hour and each day but forced himself not to think that it was because he missed Harry. He told himself not to go through all the trouble again, trying to recall the feelings he had felt when he found out about Harry cheating. And as much as it hurt him, in a way it felt good bathing in the grief and in the anger, because those feelings kept him from remembering.

They kept him from remembering why he had fallen in love with Louis in the first place. They let him ignore his dazzling blue eyes, his breathtaking smile and the way his cheeks turned pink whenever they had had another flirty and cheeky conversation usually ending in very mind-blowing sex.

The feelings let him ignore how much he missed having somebody care about him as much as Harry had. And maybe still did. The thought that maybe, probably, highly likely, Harry would never ever care about him in the same way made him want to tear up and jump off a cliff, but he kept himself still. He kept himself inside his apartment, grieving over his ruined life.

~

Getting back to work with the lads helped Louis a lot. Being around Harry a lot, though only on a strictly professional level, took the decision whether to actually talk to him or not away from him. He could talk to him – about work – without having to break their actually still existing silence.

Harry on the other hand went nuts, going back to work with Louis. He couldn’t stand the distance between him and Louis and thought that not talking at all had been easier than speaking to each other, though not really saying anything. Their conversations were so strictly platonic and 90% of the time work related that Harry thought he would be going crazy if he had to sit through this for only one more day.

The other boys were confused as to what was going on now, since neither of the two were speaking to anyone about their feelings anymore. Liam felt obliged to help though, so one day after yet another vocal rehearsal he pulled Louis aside offering him a ride home. Louis gladly accepted, not aware of Liam’s plan of not dropping him off anywhere before he hadn’t answered all of his questions.

Liam’s mistake though was to start this conversation before they even reached his car.

“I think you’re being a little harsh on Harry.” He said provocatively. Louis glanced up at him.

“Excuse me?” He asked sassily.

“Can’t you see how horrible he’s feeling?” Liam tried again, but Louis just snorted at him.

“Oh yeah, sorry I missed that over all the joy I’ve been feeling those past weeks. Guess I was just too ecstatic. My bad.”

“All I’m saying is that maybe you’re making this a lot harder than it should be..”

They had reached the car by now and Liam unlocked it but Louis made no effort in getting in. He stepped away a little, glaring at Liam who had already walked around the car.

“Making this hard on me, yeah? Liam, I’ve been cheated on. You’re bloody lucky you don’t know what that feels like. And as much as I hate you right now for siding with Harry in this, I don’t even wish for you to ever find out what it feels like..” He pulled his jacket closer around his shoulder, and then stormed off.

“I’m not siding with anyone!” Liam cried, walking around the car. “Louis, stop.” - Louis had the odd feeling that people seemed to cry that a lot lately - “Where are you going?”

“I’m walking home.” He called back, not bothering to turn around. “Fuck your ride, and fuck you!”

~

One day Harry really grew sick of it. He had decided that Louis and him had kept silent for long enough and that he wanted to talk now. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to fight. He wanted to break up and make up. He almost didn’t care what the conversation led to, but he wanted Louis to respond. Simply starring at him during rehearsals and maybe later receiving a few words commenting on his work that day just weren’t enough. He hated it. With all his passion.

And this passion was it that drove him to go see Louis one night. Without thinking his actions through he grabbed his car keys and threw on his jacket, leaving Niall’s flat wordlessly and confusing the Irish lad a tad bit, but he didn’t ask.

When he reached Louis’ flat he sprinted up the stairs, before a nervously and regretful feeling could even start to spread in his stomach. And even though he was running up the stairs he couldn’t help feeling a little home, kind of like it felt coming home after a long leg of the tour.

He was still breathing heavily when he reached the front door, fiddling with the key in his pocket, but then deciding against it and knocking lightly and stepping back a little, not wanting to give the impression that he was pressing Louis.

Louis was sitting in his living room thinking about what Liam had said to him about making this whole thing a lot harder for him than it needed to be. He hated Liam for even bringing up that thought because now he found himself reconsidering a lot of decisions he had made those past few weeks. His thoughts were interrupted though by the knock on the door. He shuffled across the room to open the door and when his eyes laid in the boy on the other side of the door he felt like someone had just hit him in the face.

“Hi.” Harry said sheepishly and Louis eyes grew wide, fighting the inner battle of slamming the door shut and pulling the boy into a tight hug. The ladder seemed pretty impossible with how their relationship was working right now, but as he remembered what Liam had said he also refused from blocking out Harry right away. And so he stepped back wordlessly, letting the taller boy enter the flat that was so very familiar to him and closed the door behind him.

Harry smiled nervously and Louis just gestured towards the couches where the TV was still turned on. He felt a little awkward, not knowing whether he should offer Harry a drink maybe, just to be a good host, but then he thought that if Harry was thirsty he would find some water himself. After all he had lived in this flat long enough.

Following Harry Louis sat down as well, crossing his arms and looking at the boy on the other couch, looking horribly uncomfortable. And just in that moment Harry regretted coming. He didn’t know at all what to say and the silence settling between the two wasn’t their usual comfortable silence. It tore Harry apart on the inside and he wanted to say something so very bad, something that would ease the pain he had caused Louis, something that would show him just how much he cared and still loved him.

As Louis couldn’t stand it anymore he turned to face the TV and turned up the volume, pretending having watch the movie that was on before Harry had arrived. It was some chick flick and both him and Harry knew very well that he hated those movies and had most likely not been watching it before Mr. Curly hair arrived, but Harry chose not to comment on it and so they just sat together, watching the movie in silence.

Throughout the entire film they both glanced at each other now and then, making sure to time their stares so they would never have to actually look at each other. The previous awkwardness settled a little and in the end it almost felt okay watching the movie with each other and Louis was almost glad that he wasn’t stuck in his flat alone for yet another night.

They still hadn’t spoken though so when the movie was over Harry was quick to get up to leave, fearing to encounter yet another unbearably awkward silence. He grabbed his jacket from the floor where he had dropped it, and Louis had adored how he had dropped it in the middle of the room, just like he always did. It was just so Harry.

“Thanks for the movie.” Harry mumbled as he made his way to the door. Louis stood in the middle of the room, not knowing whether to walk Harry to the door or not. He smiled weakly.

“Bye.”

Harry shot him one last smile before pulling the door shut behind him, leaving both the boys to feel happier than they had in almost six weeks now.

~

The next morning Harry woke up with the same wide smile plastered across his face he had fallen asleep with. Niall had asked where he had been and what had magically glued the eye blinding smile onto his face, but Harry had just shrugged it off saying he was in a good mood. The Irish lad had ignored it but when his curly haired friend greeted him happily the next morning, making coffee for the both of them still smiling like a Cheshire cat he honestly started to wonder.

“You okay?” He asked a little sceptically as he sat down onto one of the stools by the breakfast bar and Harry set a mug with coffee down in front if him.

“Yeah.” Harry flashed a smile, showing off his dimples. “I was thinking about getting a new phone today. Wanna tag along?” He nonchalantly asked, taking a sip of his own hot drink. After his movie night with Louis the evening before he felt like it was the right time to buy a new phone again. It hadn’t felt right before, and Harry constantly remembered how Louis had smashed his formerly brand new phone into dozens of pieces, the night he found out about him and Nick. And the idea of getting a new phone hadn’t felt right, until yesterday. Until Louis had let him in again. Until they had made a step in the right direction of being friends again. And maybe even more.

“Uhm, okay. Sure, yeah.” Niall replied a little thrown off by Harry’s suggestion. He was aware of the fact that the other hadn’t had a phone in several weeks now and a little surprised by his sudden change in mind to buy a new one. But he didn’t say anything, smiling away while they drank their coffee and dressing quickly as Harry seemed as if he couldn’t get going soon enough.

They went to a large store downtown where they sold all sorts of media articles and strolled through the isle with the cell phones, playing with the buttons and touchscreens as they looked at several different ones.

“Hm, well what do you want?” Niall asked after a while, flipping through the menu of a new HTC phone.

“I don’t know.” Harry said flipping the Samsung in his hands around and looking at the design on the back. “These are all not quite what I’m looking for. Maybe I’m just gonna go with an iPhone again..”

“Yeah, what happened to your old one anyways?” Niall asked suddenly and Harry’s face grew hot. He hadn’t exactly told the boys about how or why his phone broke, he just said it did and until now they hadn’t bothered asking.

“Uhm, it just uh, broke.” He mumbled, looking away quickly and missing the confused look Niall shot him.

They looked through more phones for a little longer before a salesperson came walking up to them, asking if they needed help. Harry made a quick decision in that moment asking right away to get the new iPhone and the young man strolled off again, going to get the product for him. He let Harry chose the color and set it all up for him, even letting Harry keep his old number and contract. Niall stood with them and watched as the salesman got the phone hooked up, charged and set up quickly, dismissing the two boys after only thirty minutes with a brand new phone and $800 less in their pockets.

When they left the shop Harry smiled happily down at the screen, flicking through the menu. He was glad the salesman had set it all up for him and he was very much ready to go, already flicking through his so far empty contacts.

“Gimme your number.” He mumbled and his finger flew over the screen tipping the numbers quickly as Niall told him his number. “You wanna give me the other boys’ numbers, too? Man, it’s gonna take forever to get all my contacts back.” He sighed and started typing in Zayn’s name and waiting for Niall to get his own phone out to tell him the other numbers all.

“Why don’t you just tweet about getting a new phone and that people should text you.”

“What would I do without my Irish mate.” Harry exclaimed, wrapping an arm around Niall’s shoulders as they walked over the parking lot towards the car. Taking the car keys from Harry Niall decided he would drive, so Harry could “play with his new little toy”. Harry frowned at his comment, but didn’t bother scolding Niall, too busy setting up his Apple ID and downloading the Twitter app.

A couple of minutes later he had it all downloaded and setup, sending out a Tweet telling all his followers that he had gotten a new phone with his old number though and that everyone should text him their name, so he had their numbers as well.

From that point on texts just kept coming and coming, loads of people texting him and Harry had a hard time keeping up with saving everyone’s number before the next text came in. The task had him bored rather quickly and he didn’t pay much attention to who’s number he was saving until they reached Niall’s apartment and both climbed out the car, walking the stairs back up to the front door. Flopping down onto the couch Harry flicked through the texts he had gotten since they had left the car. Three messages. Two of them from people of their team; a stylist and one of the men who had the rather time consuming job of looking after the boys when they decided to go out at night, or run off while they were on tour.

The last message though was from a number that wasn’t all that unfamiliar to Harry.

From: 07421-155 -204

“Hey, this is Louis.”

Harry’s heart beat a little faster, taking in a sharp breath as slowly the muscles in his arms relaxed and Niall shot him a weird look he chose to ignore. Hastily he saved the number, cherishing the fact that Louis had texted him at all. Even though Harry thought the previous night had been a step in the right direction and that it had actually gone pretty good, he still wasn’t all that convinced that Louis felt the same way. But the fact that he texted him now, made Harry’s stomach flutter stupidly and he hated himself for feeling this excited over a simple text.

Against his better knowledge and opposed to all the other texts he had gotten that day, he chose to reply to Louis.

To: Louis

“Hey, thanks.”

Harry didn’t really know what else to put, so he just left it with that. He didn’t mean to push him but even more so he didn’t want to feel to rejection that would with a doubt fill him if Louis didn’t reply again. And with this text Louis didn’t need to reply and Harry also didn’t expect him to. But yet still Harry couldn’t help but jump a little at every single text he got from that moment on – which were still a good amount – silently hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was Louis deciding to text him again.

But it wasn’t.

~

Things between Harry and Louis got less and less awkward as time went by. They still didn’t speak or text unless it was work related, but at least from that point on they could hang out as a group again without it being too awkward. Louis still tried avoiding Harry, mostly sticking to the others whenever they had rehearsals or hung out, but Harry hardly realized. He was just happy enough with being able to be around the boy again, and stare at him and enjoy his company, even if the other maybe didn’t feel quite that way.

But this satisfaction Harry felt didn’t stay for too long and about a week after getting his new phone he found himself driving to Louis’ flat again, jogging up the steps and knocking on the door before wasting another thought. His visit was still a surprise for Louis, though it was less awkward then the one before and he let the younger boy step in wordlessly, joining him to watch TV again, just like the last time. And just like the last time they barely spoke a word throughout the entire movie and Harry left quickly afterwards. And even though their encounters were short and mostly silent, both boy enjoyed their time together.

Their movie nights together became a rather regular thing, Harry coming over to Louis’ flat every two of three days to spend some time together. One night Harry showed up, wordlessly holding up a DVD he brought along and beaming at Louis in excitement. The older boy just nodded quickly, giving Harry permission to put the DVD in. And from that day on it was normal for Harry to bring along a DVD he rented or “borrowed” from Niall. Sometimes he even brought snacks or some pizza he picked up on the way. In a way their movie nights had almost become dinner dates, with the exception that yet still neither of them spoke let alone touched the other.

But it was fine and both boys were happy with how things were. The other band members noticed a changed in both their friends’ behavior and general mood, but they didn’t say anything. Louis and Harry had chosen to keep their more and more often occurring little hangouts to themselves, so their other friend were oblivious as to what was going on between them.

Harry especially had been genuinely happy lately and all the boys noticed. Even Louis did, but he chose not to comment on it – as he still didn’t comment on anything Harry did or said. But the silence was bugging him. After a while Louis had started missing conversations with Harry. It seemed a little odd to him, but spending so much time with Harry in silence showed the oldest band member just how much he loved the younger boy for his smart remarks, his cheeky comments and his carefree way to talk about serious things in such a way. All those times Harry came to see him at his apartment Louis secretly hoped that Harry would say something. That maybe he would freak out, or that maybe he would apologize again. Just so there was a start for a conversation. But the curly haired boy kept to himself, and one night Louis grew sick of it.

Harry had brought along yet another one of Niall’s DVDs and just as he was about to put it in Louis stomped his foot on the ground, breaking the silence that had been dominating their relationship for so long.

“No.”

Harry spun around, not sure if he heard right but dropped the DVD in the process and his jaw fell open.

“W-What?” He had almost forgotten what Louis’ voice sounded like and if it wasn’t for their work where Louis was forced to speak – or sing – to him, he probably would have. Louis was thrown off by his own action, stepping back a little though he stood all the way across the room from Harry. His hand reached out for the couch and he slowly slipped down, sitting down onto the edge, still looking at Harry.

“S’ppose we can talk now.” He mumbled and Harry’s eyes grew even wider. He felt a little unprepared for Louis’ suggestion and slit down onto the couch, closest to him, looking down at his hands before starring right back at Louis.

“O-Okay. Talk.” He said, not sure on how to start the conversation.

“Well, don’t- don’t you have something to say?” Louis asked back, just as unsure. He hadn’t really known what he wanted to talk about and just knew that he wanted Harry to react. To show him that he still cared about their relationship.

“I thought you didn’t want to hear it.” Harry replied sadly.

“I do now.”

“I’ve already told you countless times. I still feel the same.”

Something around Louis’ heart unclenched and he felt incredibly relieved when he found out that Harry still felt the same. The silence that settled between them was comfortable and they could both hear the other’s breathing growing calmer as the time passed by. Louis glanced up at Harry who was looking back at him, adjusting himself to sit more comfortable on the couch.

“Silence is comfortable with you.” Louis said quietly after a while, but he knew Harry had heard it when he blushed a light shade of pink and turned his head down in order to hide it.

“Always had been.” He replied sheepishly, smiling at the older boy who beamed back at him. The happiness in his eyes made Harry smile right back and so they were both grinning happily trying to contain the emotions bubbling up inside of them.

~

The next day the boys had a meeting with their management and they all were to meet at the studio. Liam and Zayn arrived first, already walking through the lobby casually to make their way to one of the upstairs offices.

“Have you heard anything from Harry or Louis?” Liam asked as they got onto the elevator, remembering the one time he had caught the two making out heavily in there.

“No, you?”

“No.”

“They are such dorks.”

“I know, right?”

When the two reached the office the found Niall already sitting at a large table, flipping through some papers that listed the agenda of today’s meeting. The two greeted him quickly and sat down with him looking through the list as well. Zayn complained about how long the meeting was going to take if they had to go over “all those motherfucking points that motherfucking list”. But his worries were interrupted when Harry and Louis walked in, talking quietly and chuckling over something.

Liam’s eyes grew wide and he turned to Zayn and Niall who just starred right back at him, shrugging their shoulders with a slight smile tugging on their lips. None of them had known whether Harry or Louis were making process of any kind but from what it looked like things were going rather good. Just as Niall was about to open his mouth to make a cheeky remark their manager came storming in, followed by two more important looking people and demanded silence before going over the first point on the agenda.

The meeting seemed to stretch even longer now that Liam, Zayn and Niall couldn’t wait to ask a bunch of questions. But even as the meeting was over, their manager held the three of them back quickly to talk to them and Harry and Louis skipped out right away – talking and giggling yet again.

When they finally got out for good, Harry and Louis were out of sight and they just starred at each other dumbfounded.

“What the hell was that?” Zayn asked confused and almost offended as they left the office, though pointing back at the room where they had seen Harry and Louis talk.

“I have no clue.” Liam admitted.

“The one day they aren’t even talking and now..”

“Best friends all over again.” Niall finished the sentence for Zayn, grinning up at his friends.

“They’re so confusing. So weird!”

“Wait.” Liam interrupted. “Does that mean they’re dating again?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t hope so. I sincerely expect them to tell us if they do!” Zayn exclaimed, waving his hands through the air.

“Seriously though.” Niall continued, looking happy. “Have you seen them giggling? It’s only a matter of time till they’re back together now.”

“Our little lovebirds..”

~

Talking again brought Harry and Louis closer together. Both of them liked the development in their relationship, even if they didn’t like to admit it to each other. Harry wished he could go over to Louis’ flat more than two or three times a week. And Louis also wished Harry would come over more often. But as they still didn’t talk about stuff like that Harry didn’t dare simply showing up every night at the older boy’s flat.

Louis usually knew that when Harry had been over one night he was likely not to come the following night again. And after a particularly long day of even more rehearsals Louis knew Harry probably wouldn’t come over, because he had been the day before. But he wanted him to, and he wanted to ask him to come. So as they strolled out the studio together, both walking towards their cars in silence Louis prepared himself to ask Harry to come over for a movies at his.

“Harry,” He started out as the curly haired boy reached his car. He looked up to him, waiting for him to say something. “Uh..” Louis just not realized that this the moment to ask Harry. But he was interrupted by Liam and Zayn who came strolling out the studio, waving at them and saying some goodbyes before getting in their own cars. “Uh, bye.” Louis finished the silence between him and Harry quickly, jumping into his car before biting down on his tongue and hating himself for not forcing the question out of his mouth.

“Wanna come over for a movie?” He asked out loud, proving to himself, that indeed he could say those words out loud. “Wanna come over? For a movie? WANNA COME OVER?” It worked. Just not when Harry was around. He frowned deeply, buckling up before turning on the engine and driving home.

As soon as Louis reached his flat, he started walking up and down the living room, regretting ever even coming home. So he dismissed all plans he had made for the night and crabbed his keys again, still wearing his shoes and jacket and jumped back to stairs of the apartment complex to his car. Louis knew Niall was out that night and Harry would be alone at his flat, so he didn’t even care about making up an excuse to show up there.

Louis didn’t even think about bringing along a movie or grabbing some takeout on the way there, but Harry was delighted to see him nevertheless.

“Louis.” He gasped out a little surprised, as he saw the short and sheepishly grinning boy standing in the doorway.

“That’s my name.” Silence settled and Harry was still too surprised/shocked to even move. “So, uh, are you gonna ask me to come in or am I gonna have to wait until you will do me the honors again?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Harry said quickly stepping to the side. “Come on in.” The light laughter that fell from his mouth broke the ice and Louis snickered quietly as he walked right past Harry, kicking of his shoes as he flopped down onto one of the couches. Harry bumped him to the side a little with his shoulder to sit down next to him. They had proceeded to sitting on the same couch again while watching the movies, scooting closer and closer each time.

Louis sat up and their arms were almost brushing now. He smiled down at his hands and Harry started rambling to avoid awkwardness and they completely forgot about the movie. The rambling soon developed into an actual conversation and the boys had a good time together, chatting and laughing, catching up on the other’s life. Both felt the heavy weight lifted off their chests from the feeling of talking freely for the first time in quite a while. They had always had a special connection and it had been hard finding something worth comparing for both of them. So now they were just happy having each other back talking about almost everything – expect their own feelings of course – and Harry felt more home here at Niall’s, talking to Louis than he had felt any other place since the two of them broke up.

It was almost eleven when the boys were still sitting on the couch, chatting happily as they heard keys twist in the lock by the door and shortly after that the door being shut again.

“Harry?” Niall called and the two boys heard his jacket to the floor. “I’m back, I-” The Irish lad came walking into the living room and stopped in his tracks when he spotted Louis sitting with Harry. “I- I guess I’m going to bed. Bye.” He excused himself quickly. As he walked down the hallway again, to bolt through the door into his bedroom he heard the two boys chuckling behind him.

“Well, if that wasn’t awkward.” Harry commented, still laughing lightly.

“Yeah.” Louis agreed. “Sorry about that. I should probably get going.”

“Oh hey, it’s not your fault mate, so..”

“No, I should be heading home anyways. It’s getting kind of late, so.. yeah.”

Harry let him get up from the couch, not wanting to argue with him. He stood and watched as Louis pulled his shoes back on and grabbed his jacket from the floor, checking his pockets for his phone before pulling it out of one of the inside pockets, holding it up proudly.

“Okay, well.. Tell Niall I’m sorry for intruding.” Louis said grinning as he stepped closer to the door, Harry on his heels.

“You’re not intruding. Not at all.” Harry ensured him, standing rather suddenly as Louis turned around. He smiled. “Okay, uhm, bye.” Harry said rather awkwardly, not knowing how to react to Louis’ sudden closeness. But the older boy took the decision from him by pulling him close and wrapping his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. Harry blushed brightly as he realized that Louis would have to notice how his heartbeat doubled in speed as their chest pressed together. But as Louis’ hands started stroking over his back, Harry didn’t care anymore and his head was flushed with the warmth of Louis’ touch and the amazingly familiar and yet again so new and exciting feeling of his body pressing against Harry’s. His head was occupied pretty well and kept him from thinking clearly. And so the words came stumbling out of Harry’s mouth before he even thought about it, just feeling so at home in Louis’ embrace.

“I love you.”

Harry pulled away, blushing brightly as he realized what he had just said. And even though he had only mumbled the words against Louis chest he knew very well that the other boy had heard him loud and clear, and so he tried to save what he had just ruined.

“Oh, no. No, no. No, I’m sorry.”

Louis smirked up at him, finding Harry’s insecurity amusing. But of course Harry didn’t see that.

“You’re getting good at apologizing.” Louis commented, but Harry just kept on rambling.

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Forget I even said it. I don’t mean it.. I mean I guess I do, but it doesn’t matter, really. I know this is not what we’re doing, I’m really sorry, I didn’t even know what I was saying. The words just kind of came flowing out of my mouth. Please, don’t be mad. Please, don’t leave me again. Don’t go. I’ll do anything, really. I’ll do-”

“Ask me out.” Louis prompted and effectively shut Harry up.

“Do what?” The taller boy asked doubtfully.

“You heard right.”

Harry couldn’t believe what Louis had just asked him to do, but he couldn’t let this chance pass him so whether he was dreaming or not, he was going to go all in.

“I- Yes! I mean- yeah, do you wanna maybe? Uh, out out. Like.. Huh.” He shook his head lightly, trying to sort out of brains, ignoring the light, amused chuckles coming from the boy standing in front of him. “Okay, Louis. Lou, will you go out with me? Please.”

Louis smiled at him, still not hiding his amusement. “Harder than asking the very first time, huh?” he teased Harry and grinned even wider as the younger boy looked up at him, almost angrily.

“Will you say yes already?”

“Fine, yes.”

“Thanks.”

“Text me.”

And with those words Louis skipped out of the flat, leaving Harry back to worry about what to do for their second first date.

~

Liam sat in the car in front of Niall’s flat, having just dropped him off after hanging out and going through some texts on his phone, before driving off again. After he had answered a few texts from his mum he stuffed the phone back in this pocket, his right hand already grabbing the key that still stuck in the ignition ready to turn it on. But something caught his eye, rather someone who came jumping down the stairs of the apartment building and bolting through the front doors, taking in deep breaths of the cool night air.

Watching the feathery haired boy that just started walking down the sidewalk Liam realized that it was Louis and he rolled his window down, calling out for his friend.

“Hey Lou! Louis.”

Louis’ head snatched up and as he recognized Liam’s car he jogged over to where Liam was waiting, bending down to greet him through the passenger seat’s window.

“Hey Liam. What’cha doing here, mate?”

“I could ask you the same question.” He said unlocking the car and letting Louis climb in next to him.

“I was just, uh, visiting Harry.” Louis said a little unsure, looking down at his hands as he spoke.

“Oh.” Liam replied surprised, not really knowing how to respond to that and so he just started the car and pulled onto the street, driving in the direction of Louis’ flat.

“I was dropping off Niall.” Liam tried to explain, sounding a little awkward and Louis just nodded. Glancing at him every now and then Liam noticed that Louis was beaming, almost glowing. “You okay?” He asked a little unsure on how far he could dig. Louis just nodded. “Good news?”

And apparently that had been the right question because Louis cracked a smile bright enough to illuminate the entire car.

“Harry and I are going out again.” Louis blurted out, not able to contain his own excitement. He felt like he simply had to tell someone, or else he would burst.

“Really?” Liam’s eyes grew wide.

“Yeah, he’s just asked me.”

“Well, good. Good for you two. I’m happy. Though well.. I’m gonna say I kinda gave up on you two.”

Louis looked down at his hands. “Yeah, I understand. I’m just glad Harry didn’t. He had me back the second we spoke again. I just need him, you know? I can’t just not have him around. And now, after what, well, happened, it’s like.. it’s like falling in love all over again. For a second time. It’s amazing.”

Liam smiled back at him. “That’s great. I’m really happy for you two.. So, uh, are you back together like a couple or..?” He didn’t really know how to ask that question but Louis already laughed it off.

“No, no. Not really. He’s asked me out and I’m gonna make him work for it. But well.. He’s charmed his way right into my heart, so I don’t really have a chance. We’re gonna end up together eventually I suppose.”

~

Harry had never felt as nervous before a date as he did now. It took him days to decide where he wanted to take Louis and even after he had finally figured out where he wanted to go, he changed his mind a dozen times again, always coming back to his initial idea. He wanted the date to show Louis just how much he cared and how important this relationship was for him. And in a way he felt like he would maybe only get one chance, so he didn’t want to ruin it.

Niall had been by his side, discussing different options with him, but as Harry became more and more of a nervous wreck Niall left him to himself, saying he needed to get himself figured out before he could need anyone’s help. And in the end the one thing Harry needed help with was food. And Niall volunteered happily to help with that.

“Can you just wash those grapes for me maybe?” Harry asked and Niall did as he was told, walking over to the sink.

“So.. What is this mysterious date now?” Niall asked, washing the grapes and looking around his kitchen. Harry had piled up loads of food, preparing it for hours. “I’m not sure of food the way into his heart, mate. He’s not me, you know?”

“It’s not about the food.” Harry said, furrowing his brows as he focused on cutting some carrots.

“It’s not about- It’s not the food?” Niall asked a little confused looking around the in food covered counters. Smiling he picked up one of the grapes he had just washed and put it in his mouth.

“Don’t eat that!” Harry exclaimed and Niall swallowed the grape quickly.

“I thought it wasn’t about the food!”

“It’s not just about the food. But you can’t eat it either.”

Niall muttered a few disappointed words before sitting himself up on the kitchen counter, after pushing away some little pastries Harry had baked in the morning. He watched as Harry boxed up most of the food, pushing over some leftovers for Niall to eat. Thankfully the Irish lad started eating some of the things on the plate and was surprised with how good they were.

“Louis is lucky to get to taste all of those.” Niall complimented, eying all the delicious looking treats Harry was just packing away. “He’s gonna get to eat the, right?”

“Yes, of course, weirdo.” Harry said laughing. “We’re going for a picnic.”

“Awwh.” Niall cooed, laughing lightly. “How romantic.” He wiggled his eyebrows at the younger boy who just rolled his eyes at him before stacking all the boxes onto one pile. He squinted his eyes together, starring at Niall for a moment.

“I’m gonna go change. If I come back and one, only one pieces is missing, I will cut you Nialler, you hear me?”

“Okay, okay.” Niall replied, holding his palms up in defense and rolling his eyes as Harry left the kitchen. He felt oddly tempted to actually try to steal one of the pastries or maybe another grape, but then he thought Harry maybe may have counted them. He just knew him too well.

Not too long later Harry returned to the kitchen in clean skinny jeans and a clean shirt, his hair tamed underneath a beanie. And if Niall recalled correctly he seemed to remember that this was Louis’ favorite beanie, but he didn’t question it.

Harry started packing all the boxes in a bag and Niall watched him curiously.

“So, what’s all this food for anyways? I mean, you could have had a picnic with normal stuff like pizza or something..”

“Yeah.” Harry replied as he continued packing.

“So..?” Niall prompted, a little annoyed that Harry wasn’t very willing to talk. Harry sighed.

“Fine. This,” Harry pointed at the first box “Are carrots. I think that connection is pretty obvious. In the next box,” his finger slid down a little “there are Chicken Nuggets. Because the first time Louis and I ever went out to eat alone, just the two of us, we went to McDonald’s and he scowled me for getting those. This,” Next box. “are little croissants I made myself. Because our first, rather unofficial, date was that one morning in Paris and we had croissants then. And here,” Another box. “I packed tiramisu, which we had for desert on out first official date. These,” Next box. “Are patries my mom usually makes, and we had those when we went back to Homles Chapel to tell my mom. We also had sex for the first time that night, but I bet you didn’t want to know that.” Harry grinned at Niall who just made a face.

“TMI, thanks.” Harry laughed and Niall smiled weakly as Harry grabbed a few more boxes.

“What’s in those?”

“Believe me, if you can’t handle some regular sex you don’t wanna know what the grapes, whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries are for, right?”

“Oh God, Harry.” Niall frowned, laughing though the picture of his two best friends having kinky sex disturb him a little.

“You’re so lucky you don’t know what else I brought.” Harry replied with a cheeky grin.

“Good Lord, I take this as my cue. I’m off. Have fun with.. whatever you two are doing. Just please don’t tell me.” Harry laughed and waved as Niall left the kitchen. “Good luck.” He heard the boy call from the hallway before the sound of bedroom door being pulled shut followed.

~

As nervous as Harry was, he had to admit that so far this date was going pretty well. He had picked up Louis from the apartment, smiling at the boy who was beaming happily, begging of him to tell him where they were going. Harry had chosen not to tell him where they were going or what they were doing, because he wanted to keep all options open for himself in case something went wrong or he spontaneously changed his mind. And also he wasn’t too sure if Louis was really into picnics, but he decided to go all out. And it turned out great.

Thought Louis had seemed genuinely confused when Harry pulled over on a random road outside of town, leading him through the nearby forest, Louis seemed overly excited now. Harry had picked a little clearing in the middle of the forest where him and the lads had camped once a couple of years ago. Louis remembered and seemed – to Harry’s relief – to really like the idea.

They sat down and Harry pulled up his huge bag, starting to unpack all the boxes he brought setting them down in between them. Louis looked down at them sceptically.

“Is food your way of bribing me?”

“Well, is it working?”

Louis snickered. “Am I Niall?”

“Odd, that’s what he said too.” Harry laughed and Louis beamed at him. “Go ahead and open the boxes.” Louis looked at him, still a little confused but did as he was told and pulled up a random box, carefully opening the lid.

“Is that-.. Are those the pastries we had at your mom’s after we..?”

“Yepp.” Harry smiled cheekily and Louis grinned right back. “Open the next one.”

“Okay..” A little more confident Louis pulled up the next box, rolling his eyes as he opened it. “Harry. You know exactly I can’t eat strawberries anymore without thinking of that one time we.. oh.” His eyes grew wide as finally he understood. “Are they all like this?” He asked pointing at the boxes and as Harry nodded he smiled even wider than before.

Now Louis couldn’t wait to rip all the boxes open and remember all those memories Harry picked out for them to remember together. Louis absolutely loved it, laughing so hard at some of the memories Harry had brought up, cooing at others, swooning over them. As he had opened all the boxes, Harry pulled up one last one he hadn’t shown him yet.

“Another one?” Louis asked excitedly taking the box from Harry hands. He opened it and glanced down at the food. “A lemon? Harry?” He laughed. “I don’t remember eating a lemon.”

“You didn’t.” Harry said, his expression turning serious and Louis setting away the lemon, looking up at him sincerely. “I had a lemon in my drink. That night.. Nick and I.. for the first time.” Louis’ face dropped visibly. “I know now that this was the very worst decision on my entire life. And if I could turn back time, I would. I swear. I thought maybe you’d like to smash the lemon against a tree or something.” A smile tugged on Louis’ lips. “I guess this is a good moment to apologize again. I mean, I have apologized a hundred times already, but I’ll do it a million times more if you need me to. I’ll tell you every day from now on, if that’s what you want. I want to let you know that it’s you. That’s it’s you, and you only. I love you so much Louis, I don’t know what I’d do without you. And I have no clue what the hell drove me to another man. I was just being a complete asshole and I understand if you can’t forgive me, but I just.. I beg of you. Please, let me try. Let me try to make it up to you. Every single day from now on. Please, Louis. I love you.”

Louis simply sat there for a moment, thrown off by the amount of words flowing out of Harry’s mouth. And Harry mistook Louis’ silence for disagreement.

“Am I talking too much? Did I just ruin this? Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I know we were having a good time and now I fucked it up again. God damnit, I’m such an idiot, I just-”

But he was cut short as Louis leaned in, pressing his lips against his and kissing him hotly, while Harry still tried to recover from the initial touch. As Louis leaned back a little, their faces still only inches away he beamed up at Harry who still looked a little flustered but happy all the way.

“Best second first date ever.” Louis stated, making Harry beam down at him just as excitedly before their lips met again, pressing together heatedly and matching perfectly, just like they were meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> There were a ton of people requesting this, so yeah.. Hope you liked it. Some feedback maybe? - Thanks. xx


End file.
